L^j~^i3 



.Mi 



'O 



UNION OF TOWNS 
FOR THF PURPOSF OF 
EMPLOYING SUPER- 
INTENDENT OF SCHOOLS 



By the State 
Superintendent of 
Public Schools 
of Maine. '^U-^c^^-^ M^^jC. 



AUGUSTA 
1905 






The Educational Department is prepared to send copies of this docu- 
ment free of charge on application. 

W. W. STETSON, 
State Superintendent of Public Schools. 
Augusta, Maine. 



SEP21 1907 

D.ofa 



% 






CjJ 



I UNION OF TOWNS FOR THE PURPOSE OF EMPLOYING 
SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS. 



The legislature at the session of 1897 passed a law authorizing towns 
to unite for the purpose of employing a superintendent of schools, who 
shall devote his entire time to the work of superintendence. This law 
is explained in detail in the accompanying circular and it is hoped this 
explanation will be carefully read by all persons who have an interest 
in the improvement of our public schools. 

The distinguishing feature of successful industrial enterprises of the 
present time is that the work is carried on under the direction of 
trained superintendents. Business men have learned that it is for their 
financial interest to have their workmen perform their labors under the 
direction of experts. It has been demonstrated that the money devoted 
to this service makes the entire investment more remunerative. What 
has thus been found true of industrial and business enterprises is equally, 
if not in larger measure, true of school systems. 

The law referred to above provides that one-half the amount expended 
for superintendents' salaries shall be paid by the State. It also provides 
that the person elected to serve as superintendent shall be a person of 
such education and training as will fit him to direct the teaching in 
the schools under his charge. This is especially important because for 
some j'ears many of the teachers in the public schools must be persons 
who have had but little experience as instructors and who are deficient 
in professional training. These two facts account for the large number 
of failures which the local superintendents report from year to year. 
Many of the persons who serve as teachers have not attended a sec- 
ondary school more than one or two terms and have never attended 
a training or normal school. They enter upon their labors so poorly 
equipped that failure for one or more terms is the rule rather than the 
exception. They experiment at the expense of the State and the local 
communities and, in a still more serious way, with the time and lives of 
the children. Some of them continue to be failures and some learn 
by experience and develop into efficient instructors. Much of the 
waste along these two important lines might be saved if competent 
superintendents visited the schools taught by these untrained persons, 
indicated to them definitely wherein they were making mistakes and 
what changes they should institute in their methods and suggested to 
them ways and means, plans and devices by which they could improve 
their work. Under such supervision they would be able to shorten the 
experimental stage of their careers and would soon develop into 
acceptable teachers, or in an equal length of time demonstrate their 



unfitness to remain in the schoolroom. In either case, a great saving 
would be made in money and in that which is worth infinitely more 
than dollars, i. e., the early years of the children. This question is not 
one which has any experimental phase about it. It has been worked 
out in other states and in other departments so fully that it simply 
resolves itself into the question of whether we have such a desire to 
make progress as will render us willing to accept the advantages 
offered by the law. 

The following objections have been urged to its adoption: "'It will 
increase the cost of maintaining the schools." "It takes the office of 
superintendent from some one who resides in the town and gives it to a 
non-resident and thus takes a part of the school money from the 
town raising the same." "It will tend to introduce teachers from 
other communities and thus shut out local talent." "It tends to establish 
a monopoly and looks towards centralization." "It will result in large 
salaries for a few persons instead of small salaries for a large number of 
persons." "Some person who lives in each town better understands the 
wants of his community than they could be understood by any non- 
resident." 

The answer to the first criticism on the law is given in so complete 
a form in the circular referred to above that it seems unnecessary to 
repeat it at this point. The second objection is made by a class of 
people who can be convinced only by that kind of logic which results 
in depositing money in their own pockets, or those of their friends and, 
therefore, it is useless to discuss the question. The third criticism 
answers itself. Every person who has an unselfish interest in the schools 
is interested in their being supplied with the best teachers that can be 
obtained for the money which can be invested in the service. The ten- 
dency always has been to give local teachers the preference, other 
things being equal. No change in the administration will ever make any 
change in this particular. The introduction of a trained superintendent 
will not result in the exclusion of any teacher who is a resident of the 
town in which she teaches, if she is fairly well fitted for her position. 
The desire naturally felt by every official to win the approval of the 
people for whom he labors, will be a sufficient pressure to prevent 
any injustice in this direction, but will, on the other hand, lead him to 
give quite as much weight to the claims of local candidates as should 
be conceded to them. The charge that it tends to monopoly and central^ 
ization is always made by persons who have no sufficient argument to 
present against a movement. The law in no way savors of monopoly, 
except that it reduces the number of officials and calls for a higher 
grade of preparation for and efficiency in the work. No powers are 
given the superintendent under this law zvhich are not given the super- 
intendents of the several towns under the general law. The towns 
decide by vote zvhether or not they will unite in the employment of a 
superintendent. They elect the committees who have in charge the 
employment of a superintendent and zvho may delegate to him as 



many or as fezv powers as they see fit. The law in no way abridges 
the privileges of the towns that enter upon this arrangement. The 
only changes it makes in the administration of the schools are that it 
reduces the number of persons who act as superintendents by about 
four-fifths and increases the amount paid to the individual superintend- 
ent in about the same proportion. THE DUTIES AND POWERS 
OF THE COMMITTEES AND SUPERINTENDENTS UNDER 
THIS LAW ARE THE SAME AS UNDER THE GENERAL LAW. 
The objection urged that big salaries will be paid to a few persons 
is answered by the fact that it is left with each group of towns to 
make its own selection of superintendent and to decide upon the 
amount he shall be paid and the State furnishes one-half the sum 
expended, under certain conditions and limitations, which are fully 
explained in the circular referred to above. It is still further urged 
that some person living in a town knows more abovit the wants and 
condition of the schools of the town than any outsider. This may in 
some cases be true ; but any person who will make an efficient superin- 
tendent for one town will make a still more useful official for a group 
of towns, if he can devote his entire time to the work. Any person 
who is fitted to hold one of these positions can get a better idea of 
local conditions and needs in a few weeks' study of his schools and 
can be in a better position to meet these matters than any one can 
possibly be who devotes the most of his time to some regular work 
and occasionally devotes a half hour to the schools. 

A canvass of the situation makes it clear that it would not be neces- 
sary to go out of the State for superintendents even if all the towns 
decide to take advantage of this law at once. A large number of persons 
are acting as superintendents at the present time who would be excep- 
tionally efficient officials if they had an opportimity to devote their entire 
time to the work. A considerable number of persons are also acting as 
principals of high or grammar schools, or are teaching, who would make 
equally desirable superintendents. From these three sources could be 
selected thoroughly competent persons to fill all the vacancies that would 
exist in the State. 

CIRCULAR. 

The statute provides that on and after July i, 1897, the school com- 
mittees of two or more towns having under their care an aggregate 
of not less than twenty or more than fifty schools, may unite in the 
employment of a superintendent of schools, provided they have been 
so authorized by a vote of their towns at the regular town meetings or at 
special town meetings called for that purpose. 

The school committees of the towns comprising the union shall form 
a joint committee and shall be the agents of the towns comprising 
the union. The joint committee shall meet annually on a day and at a 
place agreed upon by the chairman of the committees of the several 
towns comprising the union and shall organize by the choice of a chair- 



man and secretary. They shall choose by ballot a superintendent of 
schools, in which choice the committee of each town shall have a vote, 
proportional to the town's share of the expenditure for the superin- 
tendent's salary. They shall determine the amount of service to be per- 
formed by the superintendent in each town, fix his salary and apportion 
the amount thereof to be paid by the several towns, which amount 
shall be certified to the treasurers of said towns, respectively. The 
amount to be paid by each town shall be determined by dividing the 
entire sum expended for superintendence among the towns comprising 
the union in the proportion of the service performed in each town. 

Whenever the chairman and secretary of the joint committee shall 
certify under oath to the State Superintendent of -Public Schools that a 
union has been effected, that the towns unitedly have raised by taxa- 
tion a sum not less than five hundred dollars for the support of a 
superintendent of schools, that a superintendent of schools has been 
employed for one year and that the full amount appropriated foi 
superintendence has been. expended for that purpose, then the Governor 
and Council shall draw a warrant on the treasurer of the State for 
the payment to the treasurers of the several towns of a sum equal to 
one-half the amount expended for superintendence by each of the 
several towns, provided that not more than two hundred and fifty dol- 
lars shall be paid to any one town, or more than seven hundred and 
fifty dollars to all the towns comprising any union. 

Persons employed to serve as superintendents of schools under this 
act shall hold State certificates under the act of 189S, providing for the 
State examination of teachers, and shall devote their entire time to super- 
intendence. The powers and duties of superintendents elected under 
this act shall be the same as those prescribed for town suprintendents. 

No town shall receive State aid_ under this act unless its appropria- 
tion and expenditure for superintendence have been exclusive of the 
amount required by law for public school purposes. 

The above is the most important single statute, relating to the main- 
tenance of public schools, that has been passed by any Maine legislature 
for fifty, years. It is hoped that the people will make a careful study 
of its provisions and will avail. themselves of the assistance offered by 
the State. The following extract from the report of this department 
for 1896 will show the necessity of expert superintendence and will 
also explain its benefits and methods of operation : 

'A casual study of the special returns made by the local superintend- 
ents and tabulated in the first section of the report of this department 
for 1896, makes it entirely clear that the time has come when it is nee 
essary to provide for expert superintendence of the public schools of 
Maine. 

"The returns show that ninety-six per cent, of these superintendents 
are engaged in some other occupation and only give to this work 
such time as they can spare from their regular business. The work 
done by such persons must necessarily be, to a great extent, haphazard 



in character, unsatisfactory in results and wanting in those elements 
which insure good service. To superintend schools intelligently, one 
needs scholarship, professional training and experience in the work 
of the schoolroom. He needs to know the subjects studied, the meth- 
ods used in giving instruction and to be familiar with the history, 
science and art of education. He must not only be familiar with the 
facts found in school text-books, but he must also be a student of 
science, art, literature, history, economy. He must know what the world 
has done, what it is doing, what it is capable of doing. He must know 
men, things, means. He must be strong of mind, rugged of body, rich 
in personality. His work must be his absorbing vocation. To it he 
must give his entire time and devote his best thought. He must stud> 
schools ; he must study teachers ; he must study children. K one's 
best thought is devoted to his patients, his parishioners, his business, 
or his farming, it is not possible for him to serve the schools in such 
a way as to help the teachers to give the best instruction and the 
children to do the best work. 

"The amount expended annually for the superintendence of schools 
in the State of Maine is about $60,000. This is a sum large enough to 
give to each town about $120 for this purpose. The State offers to 
supplement this amount with an equal sum if a number of towns join 
in employing a superintendent of schools. The contribution made by the 
State added to the amount raised by the town would give a sum large 
enough to enable the towns to secure a competent person to perform 
these duties. 

"Perhaps the plan of procedure can be made clearer by using the 
following illustration : Suppose the towns of Turner, Livermore, Leeds 
and Greene unite and employ a superintendent. Suppose Turner con- 
tributes $225, Livermore $145, Leeds $90 and Greene $90, making a total 
of $550. If an equal sum were furnished by the State, the amount 
would be $1,100. On this basis Turner would be entitled to five votes, 
Livermore to three, Leeds to two and Greene to two in the selection of 
a superintendent. If the schools were consolidated even to a reasonable 
extent in these towns, the whole number would not exceed twenty- 
five, and in no case would they exceed thirty. The amounts appor- 
tioned to each of the towns named above are not materially in excess 
of the sums now appropriated for this purpose. This uniting of towns 
and placing all the schools in the charge of one person who would 
be expected to devote his entire time to the work, would insure 
the employment of an official who would have a personal interest and 
professional pride in making the schools the best the means placed at his. 
disposal would allow." 

THE VIEWS OP A SUPERINTENDENT. 

In the majority of towns the superintendent is elected without any 
regard to the preparation or qualification he may have for the work. In 
many instances superintendents are put in charge of teachers who know 



8 



more about teaching than they do and are required to hold examinations 
that they themselves could not pass. Add to this the fact that they 
are paid very small salaries (an average of $44.00 per year in Wash- 
ington county,) and that they must engage in other business and regard 
supervision of schools as an incidental matter, and it becomes apparent 
that competent supervision is too often the exception rather than the 
rule. 

Superintendents should know as much of teaching as the teachers, 
under them and should instinctively be able to distinguish good teachers 
by their manners, dress, speech, disposition and character. The best 
work of a superintendent is his skill in selecting teachers. This can 
only be done successfully by following the knowledge that conies to him 
through study, by long experience, by careful observation and by consci- 
entious conviction. 

"Teaching is a matter of both disposition and knowledge. The 
former cannot be examined, but it ought to be recognized ; careful 
supervision will aid in developing it. Skill in doing this is an essential 
characteristic in a good supervising officer, especially in connection with 
rural schools. If the cry is raised (and it is) that there is not enough 
money to pay for professional supervision, the reply Is that it would be 
wiser to have fewer teachers in order that those employed might be 
better qualified. A supervisor who is an expert can so arrange and 
organize the system that a less number of teachers can do the work, 
and do it better, because each one is thoroughly competent. A good 
superintendent earns many times his salary ; a poor superintendent is too 
dear at any price." (Pennsylvania State Report, 1895.) 

"Underpaid supervision is often unskilled and inefficient, and against 
this we raise our decided protest. Such supervision is of no value what- 
ever to the schools — a penny-wise policy that economizes in the wrong 
place. A supervisor should have no other business than to care for the 
schools. He should not be a merchant, nor a lawyer, nor a doctor, nor 
a clergyman, nor a farmer, nor an active teacher, nor anything but a 
superintendent of schools — that and nothing more. 

"With a given sum of money for school purposes, to devote a pan 
of it to skilled supervision, will bring more children under enrollment, 
better teachers in the community, better instruction in the schools and 
more satisfaction to the people than if all the money were spent in pay- 
ing the salaries of teachers." (Report of the Committee of Twelve, 

1895.) 

"If it is desirable to insist upon a certain degree of qualification for 
a school teacher in the humblest district of the State (this preposition 
has passed beyond the realm of discussion,) it would seem that there is 
no question but that the superior officer, clothed by statute with such 
extended powers as a school superintendent, ought to be a person possess- 
ing some fixed qualification for the performance of the duties of his 
office. The schools of the State will never reach that degree of efficiency 
which the State has a right to demand, and which is expected from 



the generous provision made for their support by the people, until this 
evil is corrected. Some standard of qualification should be insisted upon, 
and the power of removal in case of the election of a person not pos- 
sessing these qualifications should be vested in the State Superintendent." 
(New York State Report, 1895.) 

Enough has been quoted to indicate the opinion of competent judges. 

The one thing most needed in our rural schools is efficient supervision 
and they will never be greatly improved until this is supplied. 

The whole matter may be summed up by stating that we should 
apply the same business principles to the management of our public 
schools that we do to other important matters. The superintendent 
of public schools should be educated and trained for that particular 
work, as much so as the lawyer, doctor or clergyman. 

As the State has made ample provision for aiding towns in 
defraying the expenses of experienced supervision, there is no good 
reason why they should not avail themselves of it and profit by the same. 

When I began to look up this subject I sent to each superintendent 
in the county a circular letter asking the following questions : 

Name? Age? Of what schools are you a graduate? Have you taught? 
Have j'ou had normal training? How long nave you been superintendent? 
"What is your salary? What is your regular vocation? How much time 
do you devote to school work outside that occupied in visiting? How 
often do you visit each school? How long do you remain at each of 
your regular visits? Do you conduct the exercises when visiting or allow 
the teacher to do the work? Do you arrange the work for the teachers 
or allow them to do so for themselves? Who does the grading? What 
educational journal do you take? How many schools in your towns? 

My first call brought me thirty answers, my second five, which I will 
endeavor to tabulate and criticise. 

The ages range from twenty-one to seventy-four, the average being 
forty-three. Very few persons at the age of twenty-one can possibly 
have had the training and experience to fit them to superintend public 
schools properly while those at the advanced age of seventy-four are 
usually physically unfit for the work and, unless they have been very 
active workers in this field, are not up to date, so the exttemes should 
be avoided. 

I find that twenty-seven or sixty-five per cent, are not gradu^^tes of 
any school ; five are graduates either of a high school or an academy ; 
six are graduates of normal schools ; three of medical colleges ; one of 
Colby; one of Lehigh University; one of a theological school and one 
of Lenox College. 

Leaving out the graduates in medicine, which, of course, does little 
toward fitting a 'person for school supervision, we have but three college 
men and two of these are serving for the first time this year and have 
not given special attention to school work. With ail due reverence and 
respect for those able, intelligent, broad-minded men, who have suc- 
ceeded in life after a superficial fit in an ordinary district school, we must 



lO 



maintain that few persons are actually qualified to superintend schools 
properly, who have no better preparation than this. Even if they had 
mastered the studies taught in their own schools, surely those of the 
present day should be better and more advanced, which leave? them 
entirely unprepared in a certain amount of the work. Notwithstanding 
their indefatigable industry, they have had their families to support from 
earnings gained in other pursuits and consequently have had little time 
to give to schools. We believe if these men could answer for themselves 
they would testify that they are not qualified for the work. 

The high school graduate has a better fit, but this is by no means 
sufficient. Of the six normal school graduates, two are physicians, one an 
ex-teacher, one at home, one a teacher and one superintendent, so that 
four of these are ovit of line. 

Of the three college men, one is a physician and has a large practice, 
still he gives a great deal of time to school work ; another is an analytical 
chemist and the third names no particular business. With the excep- 
tion of the first, it is evident that these gentlemen have given no especial 
attention to school work. 

As to the vocations of our superintendents : Twelve are farmers ; 
five are teachers ; three, doctors ; two, clergymen ; two, lumbermen ; one, 
housekeeper ; one, laborer ; one, retired ; one, superintendent ; one, stu- 
dent ; one, chemist ; one, painter ; one, ex-teacher ; one, salesman ; one, at 
home. It is an old saying that variety is the spice of life and if this be 
true our schools should surely be well spiced. 

With the exception of the superintendent and five teachers, these 
people are chiefly dependent on some other business for a livelihood 
and must give that business their chief thought and attention. Of the 
five teachers, three are graduates of no school and consequently are 
not suitable for teachers, to say nothing of superintendents. Nine are 
serving their first year, eleven their second, the others have served from 
three to eight years. Short service is always objectionable unless the 
incumbent is inefficient. Nine receive two dollars per day; the others 
have a salary of $44.00 per year an average, and one, no salary. This 
surely comes under the head of underpaid supervision, which is nevei 
of much value to the schools. 

Nearly all visit the schools twice each term, one visit being made at 
the first of the term, the second near the close. In this way you havt 
no chance whatever to improve the work, for at the first visit you can 
only give instructions, while at the second, if they have not been carried 
out, the school is nearly done and there is no chance for improvement- 
many of the teachers are employed for but one term. By making one 
visit at the commencement and another near the close, you can be of no 
practical benefit to the schools. It is necessary to watch the work from 
week to week and know whether it is being properly done. 

The time spent in school at each visit varies from half an hour to an 
entire day, the average being one hour and twenty minutes, or two 
hours and forty minutes for each term. It is needless to add that 



II 



more time than this is absolutely necessary, in order to make the service 
of much value. Unless the superintendent knows the standing of every 
class and every pupil, how much ground they have covered and how 
well they have done the work, he is deficient in his knowledge of the 
school. 

Ir is a matter of common observation that the efficiency and thor- 
oughness of every school worker depends materially upon the time and 
thought given to the work outside school hours. On this subject the 
answers were very indefinite, so much so that it was impossible to esti- 
mate the time. However, such answers as the following are very signifi- 
cant: 'not much,' 'very little,' 'none,' 'don't know,' 'two days in a year,' 
'what I can,' etc. 

Some are more explicit, one stating that he spends an hour per day 
which is very creditable. The only conclusion we can arrive at on this 
point is : That not enough time is spent in preparation to enable them 
to do good work. 

Superintendent Gowan of New Hampshire once said to a class leaving 
the training school : "Now, girls, if you ever go to school in the morn- 
ing without knowing just what you are to do that day, just lock the 
house and go home. The children gain physically by playing all day out 
of doors and that is much better than being bored in school by a teacher 
who has no definite idea of what she is driving at." 

The same principle will apply to superintendents. If you visit a school 
withotit having a clear conception of what is to be accomplished at that 
visit, you may as well stay away. Nothing is gained by haphazard man- 
agement in school work. 

The grading and arrangement of the work is left almost entirely in 
the hands of the teachers. This might do very well if the same teacher 
was in charge from year to year, but, when a new teacher is employed 
every term, it must be ruinous. One of the principal duties of a superin- 
tendent should surely be to lay out the work for the teachers and instruct 
them how he wishes to have it done. His should be the master mind 
and direct the course in which the ship shall sail. If he does not do 
this, he is only a superintendent in name, a mere figurehead. 

I find that twenty- four take no educational journal, the others from 
one to three. A superintendent or teacher without an educational journal 
stands in the same relation to the educational world as a business man 
without a newspaper stands to the business world. They know nothing 
outside their own narrow sphere. 

To sum up the information gained from these statistics, we would 
conclude that several of the town superintendents are doing good work, 
as good, or even better, than can reasonably be expected of them, but 
that the work of the large majority is inefficient. Now. do not misunder- 
stand me to say that they are responsible for this ; they do not seek this 
office, they do not claim to have prepared themselves for it, but accept it 
because it is pressed upon them and they can only be expected to do the 
best they can under the circumstances. Those of you who attend our 



12 



town meetings will, I think, bear me out in this statement, that there is 
much less attention given to the election of members of the school com^ 
mittee or superintendent than to that of tax collector. — E. H. Bennett, 
Ivubec. 

THE OPINION OF A LAYMAN. 

The most of our superintendents are men who have been trained to 
almost every known calling — except superintendence. Can a blacksmith 
go into a harness shop an hour or two once in a while and make a good 
harness, to say nothing of giving helpful instruction to the regular work 
men? Can the average bookkeeper put a few hours now and then upon 
Agnew's "Principles and Practice of Surgery," then step out and instruct 
experienced surgeons upon trepanning and tracheotomy? Even a Li 
Hung Chang would not generally make a great success of architecture 
as a side issue, nor would a Lyman Abbott always be successful at run- 
ning a Wyoming cattle ranch. In like manner we should not expect the 
greatest excellence in school superintendence from the odd moments of 
an efficient surveyor or even an eloquent preacher of the gospel. Indeed, 
men "do not gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles." In that Held 
only, wherein a man sow his efforts and energy, may he expect to reap 
the highest effectiveness and the best results. 

This is an age of specialization. One who wishes to travel very far in 
any domain of human endeavor must be content to walk a narrow path. 
One man has not the necessary force and versatility to become a great 
mechanic, general, electrician, poet, physician, theologian, financier, chem- 
ist and astronomer. Division of labor has advanced with the ages until 
we find the highest specialization hand in hand with the highest civil- 
ization. 

Nowadays a man specializes and becomes what is termed a scholar ; 
he specializes farther and becomes a linguist; still farther and is a 
student of some particular language ; farther yet and is perhaps an 
English grammarian or a critic of German poetry. If one man could 
live ten thousand years, he might reasonably attempt to attain to gen- 
eral greatness ; but it is actually given to any one person to walk an 
extreme distance, the greatest distance, in only one direction. The placing 
of every department of human effort in the hands of a specialist has pro- 
duced results almost magical. Dewey, a specialist, breaks the pride of 
Spain and gives his country an Eastern empire. Kipling, a specialist 
thrills his race with "The Recessional." Marconi, a specialist, astonishes 
the world with wireless telegraphy. Specialization works wonders in 
other directions, why should it do otherwise in the art of managing- 
schools ? Certainly there is, there can be, no valid argument against it. 
We admit the need of the trained teacher ; then how much more of a 
necessity is the trained superintendent, with more human beings under 
his influence, larger financial interests under his control, the very organ- 
ization and system of the schools dependent upon him? 

But if our superintendents are wanting in ability to perform their 
duties properly, small is the wonder. The average Maine town thinks 



13 

it can not afford to pay a salary sufficient to employ a professional super- 
intendent. To benefit just such towns as these, the medium-size and 
smaller towns of the State, is the object of this law admitting joint 
supervision. Two or more towns combine their superintendence money, 
this amount is then supplemented by an equal sum paid by the State, 
and an amount sufficient to employ a competent professional superin- 
tendent is thus easily obtained. In the case of the single small town, the 
amount paid for school supervision is very meagre, usually from four 
hundred dollars a year down — yes, very far down. The work must 
therefore be done by someone who gets his living in some other vocation 
and who uses the school work only as a convenient means of getting a 
little pocket-money, trusting too often to smiles, policy and favoritism 
to carry him through a task in which he would be swamped if compelled 
to rely upon his fitness for the place. Let it be understood that we are 
not impugning the motives or disparaging the general ability of most of 
our superintendents. The ineffectiveness of much of their work is simply 
the inevitable result of our system, and the popular lack of appreciation 
of the importance of skillful supervision. Many faithful school officials 
now give more time and strength to school duties than their salaries 
warrant; and many, too. are far more successful — almost by instinct, 
rather than professional education — than could reasonably be expected. 

Small pay for supervision is a fatal error. It is always supreme folly 
to attempt economy by keeping low the salary of the manager of vast 
interests. Small salaries will hire small men, who will do for small 
positions. Places of great responsibility require great men and the 
services of such men always command large money. 

Another evil of the dominant system is the shortness of the stay most 
superintendents make in office and the fleeting character of the interest 
they must consequently feel in their labors. By endeavoring to do his 
duty the strongest man is sometimes unpopular and is elbowed out by 
some useless but well liked individual who sees in the position "a good 
thing." If superintendence means anything, such frequent changes in 
it means frequent changes in much of the school management r.nd con- 
sequently disconnected and desultory work. 

Lastly, as so many use the position of superintendent only until some- 
thing better presents, or until they can get a living strictly in their own 
business, they are not sufficiently anxious about retaining their positions 
to perform their duties conscientiously. To many such, the blood of 
relationship proves thicker than the milk of human justice and cousins 
and nieces and nephews are employed too numerously for the good of 
the public. 

So much for the imperfections of the present system. How can such 
a weak, haphazard method of school guidance long obtain among an 
intelligent and progressive people, right in the face of another system, 
immeasurably superior, which stands at our gates and supplicates us for 
admission. 



14 

Turning now to the advantages of town partnership in school manage- 
ment, we see, first, and more important than all else, that it will bring 
with it trained superintendence. In the case- of a combination of towns 
there can be employed one who is, by nature, education and experience, 
fitted for the work in hand, and who can, will and must devote to it 
all his time and interest; one who will take a professional pride in his 
work and a personal interest in building up a group of schools ; one who 
hopes to do his duty so well as to warrant his retention in a good 
position or his promotion to a higher; one who has generally not spent 
his best years in work foreign to schools, but who has turned the forces 
of a whole life into this chosen channel. 

Another consideration is that, in a given territory, during a given 
time, the total number of school superintendents employed would be 
far less than under the present system, for the two obvious reasons 
that the number of superintendence divisions would be less and the 
tenure of office would be longer. On general principles, whatever keeps 
people attending to their own affairs, without the yearnings and striv- 
ings for office, is a good thing. 

Another great advantage of this company supervision is that half the 
expense of supervision is saved the towns by the State. The cities and 
the wealthier towns in this way contribute toward the expense of good 
superintendence for the smaller and poorer ones ; and surely these smaller 
towns will not be unwise enough to refuse to profit by such a golden 
opportunity. Thus in most cases, expert and effective superintendence 
will cost hardly more than the indifferent and poor superintendence that 
now prevails. Why feed husks to our schools when they may as cheaply 
have corn ? 

Yet another consideration will readily suggest itself. A superintendent 
under the proposed plan will have larger responsibilities than under the 
present. Strong minds and characters are fond of work and the new 
system would therefore attract into its service men of greater calibre than 
the old could possibly do. 

Lastly the union of towns would have a broadening, as opposed to a 
provincializing, effect upon their people. Sometimes the officials employed 
would be strangers, from greater centres of education and culture and 
their new ideas and unconscious influence should be elevating and val- 
uable. 

But we must remember that nothing can promise so well that it will 
not encounter honest opposition. One dislikes the idea of joint super- 
vision because of fear that strangers may supplant "home talent" in 
school offices. This may often be the case, but only when strangers 
can give the better service. In this case, would not the schools be for- 
tunate? Besides, if any individuals qualify themselves properly, they 
in turn can find employment in school management, either at home or 
elsewhere. 

We must remember, also, that better supervision is not altogether a 
question of better training on the part of superintendents. It is also a 



15 

result of an actual increase of hours and energy put into the work. 
Under the law, a superintendent of a combination of towns is to give all 
his time to his school duties and none need be told that ten or twelve 
hours a day will accomplish more in school oversight than a daily average 
of only an hour. » 

One cautious man believes the new law centralizes power too much. 
In reply, his official name and his care to retain his position would cause 
an officer to do his best; as long as an officer is directly or indirectly 
accountable to the people at so short intervals as once a year, there is 
scarcely a danger of autocracy. But it should be borne in mind that 
a. superintendent can have only those powers that are delegated to him 
hy the joint committee. If they fear a certain amount of authority is 
too great to give a superintendent, they will simply give him less. When, 
in his own town, years ago, the "town plan" was substituted for that 
heterogeneous plan, the "district system," the writer knew a well 
informed and most estimable old gentleman who bewailed the change 
almost with horror, as a dangerous centralization of power. But years 
of actual test proved the change a blessing. 

Others are concerneH lest a stranger should turn the "cold shoulder" 
on local teachers. Under present conditions local teachers are rightly 
preferred to strange. Under the new system they would be favored 
likewise; for no superintendent would have the hardihood to draw down 
upon himself the indignation of the towns employing him by showing 
an unjust preference for "outside teachers." 

Most of the objections that can be urged against joint supervision 
can well be met. We do not claim it has every advantage, but we do 
■claim it is far in advance of anything in that line yet attempted among 
the average and smaller towns of Maine. 

Nearly two years before the law now upon the statute bocks was 
passed, the writer had the honor, in his annual report as superintendent 
of Fort Fairfield schools, to advocate joint supervision for the schools 
of the Aroostook valley ; and events have since transpired which should 
tender the advocacy of that system even more strenuous. Without being 
perfection, the law as it stands is good, and its operation would cause 
l)y far the greatest advance step our rural schools have made for more 
than a generation. 

What, then, do we as individuals feel to be our duty in this matter? 
Clearly it is to induce our people to benefit by the provisions of the 
law. How can such a consummation be efl^ected? By using every means 
to that end. In private conversation, advocate the system ; in school 
reports, advocate the system, in teachers' conventions, advocate the 
system. Try to avoid jealousies and to promote necessary harmony 
among towns. A few words now and then in the local paper would be 
a powerful aid, calling the attention of the public to this matter. The 
irrepressible town meeting orator, even, might be of some service if he 
would lend his energies to so good a cause. All interested in schools— 
and who dare not be interested? — should champion the law in question. 



i6 



In season and out of season, let us advocate its provisions ; let us bring it 
into effect wherever applicable, not as the ultimate good, but as an 
immense stride in the right direction ; let us improve it when experi- 
ence has shown its defects and thus let us earn the gratitude of edu- 
cators now and of our children and our children's children hereafter. — - 
C. C. Harvey, Fort Fairfield. 

FURTHER TESTIMONY. 

Our town united with Stonington in i8g8, and employed T. M. Coombs, 
superintendent of public schools. He performed the duties of the office 
so satisfactorily that the town of Deer Isle got permission to join with 
us, this year. 

Modern methods of teaching are introduced in all the classes success- 
fully. 

The superintendent is authorized to employ all teachers and held 
responsible for school work; therefore, he is respected and obeyed 
accordingly. 

The joint town supervision is a success with us. — Frederick Wales, 
Vinalhaven. 

I think that it would be of great advantage to small towns to so unite- 
In country towns there are but few men who are qualified by experi- 
ence, education and training to fit them to manage successfully schools, 
and such as are so qualified have positions which pay very much more 
than the town would be willing to pay a superintendent. 

Ten or twelve schools is not enough to engage all of a man's time irt 
supervision and he must necessarily have some other business or employ- 
ment. A man with other business is liable to be so engrossed with other 
affairs that he gives the schools merely his spare time and his work 
in the schools becomes uncertain and unsatisfactory. 

A superintendent should have such education and training as will fit 
him to direct the teachers under his charge. To get a man of such 
qualifications, he must be paid a reasonable salary and no town with a 
dozen schools or less can alone afford to engage such a person. By 
uniting they can employ as good men as are employed in the cities. 

Country towns need experienced superintendents. Many of the schools- 
are small and it is customary to hire young and inexperienced teachers. 
These teachers should be instructed how to teach, if time is to be saved 
to the children. The superintendent should be an expert, know how to- 
teach teachers and instruct the beginners in teaching. 

Under our old system the young teacher is allowed to blunder along 
until he learns by experience or leaves teaching for some other employ- 
ment. 

Superintendents that are elected by our old systems are not required to 
have any special qualifications and in many instances men are put in 
charge of teachers who know more about teaching than they do and 
are required to hold examinations that they could not pass. Add to- thia. 



17 

the fact that superintendents are generally paid very small salaries and 
engage in other business, and regard supervision of schools as an inci- 
dental matter, it becomes apparent that good supervision is too often 
the exception rather than the rule. 

I think that by towns uniting and carefully selecting men to look aftei 
the schools, a great improvement can be made. — C. R. Tupper, Boothbay 
Harbor. 

This town is employing a superintendent of schools under the joint 
town supervision system. Seeing the advancement of the schools of 
adjoining towns under this system, induced us to adopt the same metho9 
and we united with Stonington and Vinalhaven, employing Mr. T. M, 
Coombs as superintendent. Our schools have been graded and the 
advancement of the scholars is very satisfactory. — P. S. Knowlton, 
Deer Isle. 

We do not claim that our common school system has reached an ideal 
standard ; neither do we pretend that it will rise, under the new system, 
to be Utopian. We find all our advance steps have been improvements, 
seldom have we discarded the new to return to the old. If the newer 
method has been put aside it is because something better than that or the 
old has taken its place. American energy never ''progresses backward." 
Until we are sure of improvement we stick -to the old method. 

The most faulty feature of our school system has long been the method 
of supervision — or rather super-neglect ; for if any phase of our town 
affairs has persistently and success'fully been evaded, it is this. 

Under the old method, the schools in three joining towns were par- 
celled out to nine "superintendents" to be visited by them singly, such 
visits covering from one-half to two hours, the only benefit being the 
detraction of the scholars' attention from their studies and giving the 
superintendent a chance to draw his pay. The utter impossibility of 
any one being able to familiarize himself with the work or needs of a 
school by such hasty oversight is apparent to the most casual observer. 

But under the new system which many of the towns are adopting, 
given a man fitted for his work, a position and a salary worth striving 
to retain, a constant and watchful care and oversight and a personal 
ambition to make his work successful and appreciated ; all these and 
many other things clearly apparent from the supervisor's standpoint 
clearly tend to the success of the system. 

Our teachers are or should be better prepared for their work than 
they were twenty or thirty years ago and being under the constant and 
watchful oversight of the superintendent, who is liable to drop in upon 
the school at the most inopportune moment, and knowing that any imper- 
fect or doubtful work will be criticised or discarded, prompts them to 
give their most faithful and efficient service. 

The scholars also seem to catch the inspiration of the system and 
strive to make their best impression on the superintendent, who is a 
man more apt to be from some town other than ours and often a 
stranger. By frequent visits he detects the perfections or imperfections 



of the various teachers' methods ; and while he encourages the one and 
seeks to introduce it into other schools, he checks the other and watches, 
for evidence of its cropping out elsewhere. While under the old sys- 
tem, merits or demerits of the teacher were not discovered till the last 
visit of the term, then it was too late to take advantage of the former 
in the other schools during that term; it was also too late to check the 
injury being done by the latter during the whole of that term. 

This is a most hasty survey of the work of the new system in the 
short time allotted me, but to the careful observer, many other excellent 
features will manifest themselves which give promise to give it success 
if it can have the hearty co-operation of pupils, teachers, parents and 
superintendent. — C. E. Smith. 

There are some things which are not purely an experiment, thougk 
they have never been tried, or, as in the present case, with us, tried so 
little time that best results cannot be expected, at least by men of under- 
standing. There are certain fundamental principles that we know arc 
right. The experience of man for ages has proven them to be so. Thej- 
are like the law of gravitation, always sure. Whenever and wherevei- 
these principles are applied, if good results are not obtained, the fault 
must be looked for in or with the men who are entrusted with theii 
application and not with the principles themselves. This system of 
school superintendence rests on some of these principles and, when 
the right men are employed as superintendents, good results must be had.. 
It is perhaps not necessary to say what these principles are. Everjf 
informed man knows that some of the distinguishing features of present 
day success are that experts are given the control and superintendence of 
things and that men give their entire time and even entire life to the 
doing of one thing. As a town, we have been trying this new systerrt 
but two terms, the third has just begun. It is impossible to go 
into detailed results after so short a time. If many and great changes- 
had been made in this little time, it would argue one of two things, either 
the town was but half civilized or the man far from level-headed. And 
Boothbay is and was considerably more than half civilized, so evolu- 
tion, not revolution, is the normal and healthy course to pursue. Mr. 
Tuttle, as far as I can learn, is doing good work ; all he needs is suffi- 
cient time and powers from the committee to make our schools the 
best that we can have. But any man who expects this in a day is not 
wise. — Rev. A. E. Russell. 

I have been requested to give my opinion as regards the value of 
towns uniting for the purpose of employing a superintendent of schools. 
In reply I will say that I consider it the most important advance in edu- 
cation yet undertaken in Maine. The town system and free text-books 
have been steps in the right direction, but active, intelligent, interested 
supervision will do more for the teachers and pupils than either of the 
others. The country is making rapid advances in art, science and inven- 
tion ; our modes of travel, living and administering the government are 
becoming more complex and demand better education on the part of 



19 

the people. Intelligent citizenship means more to the average citizen^ 
than it did fifty years ago ; the simple act of voting for our chief State 
executive is more difficult than it once was. To meet this requirement 
for a better preparation for citizenship, the schools of our State must 
give the young people a better start toward an education than they have 
been doing. 

Much toward this can be done by having our schools in charge of 
a competent superintendent who is paid a salary sufficient to enable him 
to keep in touch with the educational improvements in our section of 
the country and to bring to his teachers suggestions of what should be 
taught and how. By visiting the schools often and at unexpected times 
he can determine the character of the work being done and many times 
correct serious mistakes on the part of teachers, especially the young, 
teachers. Under the old system, the work in many schools was not 
properly graded and many pupils were doing work altogether beyond 
their powers. Of course the town superintendent could correct this_ 
but I think he seldom did. I think the teachers will strive to keep 
themselves better prepared when they know they must teach before one 
who has an intimate acquaintance with the subject taught. The selection 
of the best text-books is an important part of the superintendent's work 
He can do this better than most town superintendents who may not know 
the value of books from the teacher's standpoint. The union superin- 
tendent would naturally wish to retain those workmen who did good 
work and keep them in the same position as long as their work improved. 
Quite likely there are many other things that might be said of the value 
of towns uniting, but these few are all I have thought of. — A. P. 
Greenleaf. 

In regard to the value of towns joining for the purpose of employing 
a superintendent of schools, I can say I think it is a great benefit to 
both teachers and scholars, for they each work with more earnestness, 
and ti-y to accomplish as- much work as those of adjoining towns are 
doing. Then again it is designed to give us a man thoroughly fitted for 
this line of work, and receiving a salary sufficient for his support, he can 
give this work his worle thought, energy and time and thus bring to his 
teachers and pupils most valuable suggestions and helps in their work. 
While on the other hand, or adopting the other method, the superintend- 
ent chosen is usually a business man or farmer, who cannot put his mind 
on school work, for he has other business to attend to and who, if he 
had time, could not get up an interest, for he is not up to date in this 
line of work. So I heartily recommend towns joining for the purpose 
of employing a superintendent. — William Cameron, Southport, Maine. 

The question has been asked a great many times, Do you think a 
"union of towns" for the purpose of hiring a superintendent of schools 
will pay? And what are your reasons for advocating the plan, and will 
you give us your opinions on the benefits derived from such a union? 
Well, I think the subject is one of the most important to be considered 
in connection with the whole educational department in our State. We 



20 



need to have a larger range of interest in our schools and a wider scope 
of influence brought to bear on parents and teachers. We need a gen- 
eral upraising and awakening to this all-important and stirring question. 
We need to look at the facts from different standpoints. We, as parents, 
should look after the financial interests of our schools. We should look 
after each scholar's separate welfare. And how can we do this? We, as 
fathers and mothers, have all we can do to look out for food and cloth- 
ing for our children in order to have them attend school properly fed 
and clothed, and now who can we get to manage the rest, that is, to 
procure proper schoolrooms and books, teachers, etc. ? I will say, hire 
some one to do this for us. If we can find a man whose whole heart 
is in the work and who loves to do good and watch the expanding minds 
of the rising generation, (for our hope of State and Nation lies in the 
hearts of our boys and girls) hire him and pay him well for it, give him 
two three or four towns to look after and let him devote his whole 
time to the task — for task he will find it. He has a great responsibility 
resting on him. He has got to know how to grade those schools. He 
must buy suitable books and buy to the best advantage for the town. 
He has got to see that every scholar in the town is attending school 
and if not there, he is the man to hunt him up and enforce the school 
laws of the State and to place him where he belongs. This is great 
gain, because the unruly scholar knows when the superintendent goes 
after him he has got to go and stay there. Then if a man has his whole 
time to devote to schools, he can call often on the different ones and 
advise the teachers in regard to the best methods of reaching the child 
mind and making suggestions which will be made use of to very great 
advantage. Then he can ascertain by frequent visits to the different 
schools, the merits and fitness of teachers and of the growth in knowl- 
edge of the several classes under his care and if he finds a delinquent 
teacher he is supposed to talk with him or her and advise better methods 
but if he finds things no better as the weeks pass on, he is supposed to 
make the necessary changes. When we have a superintendent in charge 
of the schools in two or three towns, he can buy school books and all 
other school supplies at a large discount on the retail price. This will 
amount to one-quarter of the salary paid to our superintendent nearly 
in one year and in two or three years, if we continue to unite with 
other towns, will be a large amount. Some will say, Oh, yes ! I know 
it is a little saving, but not enough to make up for the extra salary we 
pay the new superintendent. But you see there is another side to thfe 
question, the man who has other business to attend to will visit the school 
and stay only a few minutes, while the man hired to do the work will 
stay longer and devote his whole time to the special wants of each par- 
ticular school. Put the right man in the right place of superintendent 
of two or three towns and our State has done the best thing for its 
schools and will make the most out of its money spent for school pur- 
poses. — (Mrs.) Annie A. Reed. 



21 

Last year, this town and the town of Vinalhaven joined for the employ- 
ment of a superintendent of schools, and employed T. M. Coombs as 
superintendent. At the beginning of last year, our schools were in a very 
poor condition, but under this system the grade of our schools has been 
very much improved. The superintendent has the employing of all 
teachers ; therefore, favoritism is not considered, but the best teachers arc 
employed. 

This year, the town of Deer Isle joined with us and the district now 
comprises the three towns, Stonington, Deer Isle and Vinalhaven. We 
are well satisfied that the joint town supervision was a move in the right 
direction with us. — John L. Goss, Stonington. 

This town has employed a superintendent of schools by joining with 
other towns for the past two years and we are satisfied that it is very 
much of an improvement over local supervision. We are employing a 
superintendent who is devoting his entire time to school work, at less 
expense than when we were employing a person who was engaged in 
some other business the most of his time and I am satisfied that the joint 
town supervision will prove profitable to our public school system. — 
A. B. Wooste;r, Vinalhaven. 

I have served on the board of selectmen in this town for the past eight 
years up to last spring and have been in the way of knowing something 
about the working of the old methods of looking after our schools. We 
were obliged to select from some of our doctors, lawyers, or some of our 
best business men to serve as supervisor of schools and, as would nat- 
urally be expected, these men as a rule have all the business they can 
attend to of their own. Last spring we adopted the plan recommended 
by you for towns to unite and hire an expert superintendent of schools 
This we did by uniting with the towns of Boothbay and Southport. This 
plan has now been in operation two terms and I think has worked 
very successfully. LTnder the old system, the superintendent as a matter 
of form would visit the schools twice in a term of eleven weeks, usually 
the first and last weeks, and the scholars would know just when to expect 
him. Under the new plan, the scholars have to be prepared every day 
during the term, as the superintendent is giving his whole time and atten- 
tion to the schools, not only to the scholars, but to the teachers as well, 
many times giving them advice which helps the school very much. As 
one of the business men of this town, I heartily recommend the new 
system. — C. J. Marr, Boothbay Harbor. 

In conjunction with the towns of Stonington and Deer Isle, Vinal- 
haven has employed a superintendent of schools under the union system 
of joint supervision during the years 1898 and 1899 and I am pleased 
to say that, so far as my observation has extended, the results have been 
most satisfactory. This plan enables us to employ a competent person 
who thoroughly understands school work and who, by devoting his 
entire time to this work, accomplishes, I believe, much more than was 
possible under the old system and at less expense in the aggregate. I 
can see no' reason why this plan is not a move in the right direction.— 
E. H. Lyford, Vinalhaven. 



22 



This town has joined with other towns the past two years for the 
employment of a superintendent of schools and the advancement made 
has proved it to be more profitable than former local supervision. This 
system enables us to employ a competent superintendent, who is devoting 
his whole time to schools and methods of teaching without any extra 
taxation for his services. — D. M. Matthews, Stonington. 

I think it is best for the towns to unite, providing they have not a 
greater number of schools than the superintendent can handle and keep 
in touch with. To be sure, it costs the towns more to unite and pay 
a superintendent $i,ooo a year salary, but they are getting a greater 
amount of labor, to repay them for the extra cost, for they get a man 
who devotes his whole time to school work. I think this fact alone would 
demonstrate in a few years the policy of so uniting. There is no man 
that can follow two or more vocations, and devote very much time and 
thought to any one of them, without neglecting tne others. This is 
true with town superintendents. The town cannot afford to pay a super- 
intendent a salary that would enable him to devote his whole time to 
school work, consequently he has to do other work in order to live and 
just the time that he would be of most use to the schools he is at work 
for someone else, the supervision of the schools is left to the teacher 
the greater part of the time, and in many instances the teacher is a 
college student, earning money to help him through college and as he 
does not care about building up a reputation as teacher, gets along as 
easy as possible. 

The town superintendent does not get pay enough to make him uneasy 
about losing his position and so does not study, to any extent, the meth- 
ods of other towns and cities and they -travel along the same old rut 
for years. 

There are a number of people who say they think it is better to hire 
a superintendent in town, as they can save about $ioo by so doing and 
that they cannot see any great change in the schools since the employ- 
ment of the superintendent by the union of towns. They expect to set 
a radical change immediately after the new man takes charge, but is such 
a change best for our schools? I say it is not and I would not want to 
employ a man that would cause such a change to take place. If we 
are to have improvement in our schools, it will be of slow growth, it 
should be a process of evolution and in order to bring this about, we 
should learn not alone by the experience of the past, but should study 
the improvement made in school work in other towns and the larger 
cities, and try and keep up with them, and in order to do this, we should 
employ as superintendents men who have been in the schoolroom all 
their lives and have taken note of all the advancement made in educa- 
tion, both in this and other states of the Union. 

As men of this description command high wages, it would be impos- 
sible for one town alone to hire them. And so I think that where two o^ 
three towns adjoin each other and have not more than twenty-five oi 
thirty schools, it is better for them to unite and employ a superintendent. 



23 

If he devotes his whole time to the schools, he will do more and better 
work for the same money than a town superintendent bould do, for 
he could visit them a greater number of times during the term, and by- 
visiting the different schools he could be helpful to the teachers, "tell 
them wherein they were making mistakes and show them the methods 
used by the best teachers in the towns." 

Get the teachers to meet and discuss the different topics that come 
under school work and thus create a desire to improve their education 
and by doing this they will raise the standard of our schools. — Charles 
Chapman, Boothbay. 

This town has employed a superintendent of schools under the joint 
supervision for the years 1898 and 1899, and the advancement of schools 
has been very satisfactory. A uniform system has been established in 
the rural as well as in graded schools, and the work carried along on 
even footing, the same work being done in the same classes in all schools. 
I consider the district supervision very profitable to our public school 
system, as it enables towns to employ a competent person to be at the 
head of its schools, and at the same time not to be overtaxed for his 
employment. He can devote his whole time to school work; thus keep- 
ing in touch with the best methods and advancing the same to his 
teachers. — T. P. Gales, Stonington. 

This town is employing a superintendent of schools under the joint 
town system and I am satisfied we are receiving more efficient super- 
vision and the improvement in our school system is superior to our 
former local system of supervision. — E. E. GrEEnlaw, Deer Isle. 

In regard to the union of towns for a superintendent of schools, I 
think it is a move upward in the right way to a higher standard of 
schools and will surely, if continued, prove a success. It gives a man 
fitted for the position who can give his whole attention to the schools, 
which is impossible under the old system. — Alphonso Dyer. 

From my personal observation, the success and efficiency of our schools 
have been greatly promoted under this system. Heretofore, we have 
not appropriated such sum of money as would secure the services of a 
competent superintendent, but during the past year we have had efficient 
supervision without increasing our expenditures. For these reasons, 1 
approve the action of our school committee in uniting in the employ- 
ment of a superintendent. — E. P. Spofford, Deer Isle. 



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